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"Practice Safe Design. Use a Concept."

I misuse the
word consistency about a dozen times a day. Sometimes if I can’t explain my
reason for making something look a certain way, I tell my client or fellow
production team that I did it for the sake of consistency. How can you argue
with consistency? The people I usually deal with don’t argue and I get the go
ahead. But isn’t that just lazy? Yes. Yes it is. I’ve been schooled in the
thought of always having a reason to back up your choices. It doesn’t sound
like rocket science but a lot of the people I went to school with and still
interact with today don’t understand the important of creating with a concept.

I guess this
method of creating a strategy for every design choice I make was set on by a
series of annoying questions. I guess it really wasn’t even a series of
questions. It was just one question frequently repeated. “Why?” I was working
at a studio where the boss man would just look at what I did and all he would say
was “Why?” Really, I’m not kidding or even being slightly exaggerative. I would
say “What do you think about this?” He would repeat “Why?” So I would just
start explaining everything because I didn’t know what he was questioning. He
would give feedback on what I had presented and give me ideas on how to make
the strategy work better. That’s the important part. I had to explain what I
was trying to accomplish with my design. If the design wasn’t correctly accomplishing
the goal, then the boss man would let me know.

The interesting
part about this process is that I would see the flaws in my design choices
while I was explaining them. It happens to us all the time. In our heads
everything makes perfect sense. But when we start to explain it, or even say it
out loud, we see the flaws. In hind sight, I know that my boss was trying to
get me to understand the actual problem and try to see the actual solution. If
you don’t know this already, design is nothing but problem solving. There are
multiple ways to solve every problem. It is our jobs as designers to find out
what solution is the best option. We aren’t paid to make pretty things sparkle.
We’re paid to create and test solutions.

Just yesterday
I had a client come back and say they changed their minds on a cover design
that we signed off on months ago. The cover didn’t have the “see-say” effect
the client wanted. (For this I will direct you to Chip Kidd’s TED talk.That’s all I will say about that.)

The client
suggested a different cover idea. We tried this idea when we were developing
concepts for the cover. This idea was one of our firsts to be discussed and one
of the firsts to be thrown out. It only focused on a small percentage of the
content instead of equally representing the content as a whole. We ended up going
with a concept that was a little more abstract but was able to communicate many
different ideas thorough iconography and semiotics. So even though this concept
was strong and had been signed off on months ago, the client still wanted
something different. I couldn’t understand why. Everyone on our side knew the
symbolism of the colors, photography, and textures. So why didn’t the client? The
client internally asked “Why” and wasn’t supplied with an answer.

I’ve learned
that you can’t wait for your client to ask you why. You have to tell them why. I
will take full responsibility for not explaining to the client why we did what
we did. I sent them the file with a “What do you think? Please have updated
content ASAP.” That’s not how you write an email, people. Look, I’m becoming an
adult. I should have explained to the client why we made the choices we did. I
should have explained why each element on the cover was vital. This would have
prevented rebuttals and it would have made our design and our opinions more
valuable and trusted. To be completely honest, if this wasn’t a client on the
other side of the country, we should have just met in person.

I know longer
work with the boss man that would annoyingly repeat “why” but he did teach me a
good lesson. After a while I didn’t have to have anyone ask me why. I started
asking myself. Each time I sketch an idea, mock up a concept on the computer,
or select a color scheme, I ask myself why. If I can’t justify a reason, I don’t
do it. That just means there’s a better solution out here that is accompanied
with a reason.

I am currently
working as an in house graphic designer. I work with only one other creative person
and a handful of financial minded people. My job consists of making
infographics, conference materials, and quarterly publication that comments on
the economic climate in the Midwest. Asking myself “why” before I sit in
meetings with those who don’t understand design has saved me lots of pain,
suffering and time. Each meeting I show my solutions and they throw back their
opinions of what should be done. They change the layout and start sketching on
their legal pads. Then I stop them and explain that I’ve explored many concepts
and explain why what I’ve chosen works.

I try to use words and perspectives that are
important to them. For example, these people think in dollar signs. I explain
how two columns will lower our paper content. I bring back up. I show them
other designers and organizations that have used similar solutions. My boss (and
only other creative in the office) frequently says “Explain it like they were 5th
graders.” I have to remember that while I was in art school learning about
complimentary colors, these people were in a master’s program learning about
interest rates and inflation. They have their specialties and I have mine.

It's important to be able to communication your reasons but developing a reason while you design will not only make your
solution stronger and easier to explain but it will help you find the best possible solution.